Camera gear dehumidifier cabinet

[chouglez]

A recent meetup (in India) with a dear old photographer friend brought in the conversation of he asking whether I have a dehumidifying cabinet where I store all my gear etc. thus protecting the gear from fungus etc. and hearing about it for the first time had a blank look on my face.

In the UK, does anyone use dry box? Is it worth investing in it if you may have a decent collection of gear?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1151013-REG/sirui_hc_70_electronic_humidity_control.html

 

[kendo1]

It would be worth it in high humidity areas of the world but not in the UK.

 

[boyfalldown]

They seem over the top and a waste of money for the uk. It's not ever really humid here storing gear in a bag causes no issues

 

[GHP]

I store all of my gear in a large metal cabinet.( My "gear wardrobe")
I don't leave it in the bags, just a habit of old I guess.

 

[DoctorJ]

You know those little white sachets of granular stuff that you find in deliveries to absorb moisture, I keep a couple of those in my bag.

 

[Sharky]

I use a dehumidifying cabinet to store all my gear in as the relatively humidity in our house is generally high despite having an oversized dehumidifier going 24/7.

It wasn't a lot of money for what you get, temperature / humidity controlled and a nice place to store gear in. It also helped my GAS as well as i ran out of things to buy for my camera so bought it a home to live in .

 

[4wd]

Our house is an old stone farmhouse and can be rather damp - more so in summer when heat is not on for weeks.
I keep my main camera and lenses in a big plastic tub with lid, and put two of these in it
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aironic-®-Rechargeable-Mini-Dehumidifier/dp/B010K2PQJW
They need recharging about once a month.
I have a sensor in there was originally for a weather station and it indicates about 23% soon after fresh dehumidifier things are put in.
I recharge them when it gets above 30%
The main rooms of the house can easily be 50-60% and a spare room where it might be put out of the way can be 70% plus, this is definitely somewhat risky for camera gear

I did some other experiments with the humidity sensor and dehumidifying things - if you just put one in the camera bag there is no change whatsoever.
In a normal cupboard with them there is no change whatsoever.
That's because damp air can easily get in, and cupboards can even be damper than the room.
That's why I use the plastic tub which would not otherwise be desirable especially if you put a damp bag in it..